Ugly bread defies expectations: still freakin' delicious

Deflated, wrinkly bread was actually very good. Texture was just like soft store bought stuff but without the dreaded HFCS.  I used the whole wheat recipe that came in the manual.  Toddler Girl ate some but without enthusiasm, even when we spread some taramosalata in it. Which one of us is crazy?

Google Answers referenced a broken allrecipes link that explained "Too much yeast made the bread rise so high that it hit the top [of the bread machine]. This prevented the hot air from circulating over the bread." So deflating the bread (like a frantic bongo player) might have been the only way to save it, although it may have collapsed on it's own, anyway. At least it didn't spill over onto the heating element.  Google also quoted a chef on some forum in saying that "2 1/4 teaspoons will leaven 6 to 8 cups of flour" so I think the 3 teaspoons for 4 1/2 cups of flour could be a little excessive.  I'll try this recipe again with less yeast.

• Recipe: Sunbeam's manual on page 32
• Mistakes: Followed directions / too much yeast
• Rating: 5/6 Breadmaking Heartaches
• Next time: 2 teaspoons of yeast instead of 3